The construction of the bus park was financed by a loan procured from the Town Development Committee and a project conducted by the Asian Development Bank. [break]
Although the construction was completed three month ago, officials say that the delay in the functioning of the facility has come about because they are finally solving the problems that had come up before the construction had started. Indeed, the municipality has only just finalized the policies for operating the bus park and will float a tender for private parties to bid on only next month. “
"We were unable to choose the right way to go about the operation of the bus park, but now we have decided to hand it over to a private party for operation," said Ramprasad Baral, Executive Officer of Bharatpur municipality.
While the Municipality collected the money for the construction, the land belongs jointly to the municipality and the Cooperative Development Board (CDB). According to Baral, the CDB is positive about the municipality´s decision but it hasn´t yet approved it officially.
The CDB is withholding its official consent because first, the operation policies were made very late, and second, the inability of the concerned parties to agree to the policies proposed has made many locals feel that the bus park will not function anytime soon.
The loan amount received from the Town Development Committee and the Asian Development Bank has to be paid back in time, but since the bus park isn´t functioning, the bus park isn´t collecting any revenue.
Despite the delay, authorities are happy with the quality of the newly constructed bus park. The bus park is equipped with modern facilities such as a waiting room and a cyber café and has enough space for 73 buses to park for a long period.
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